I hope to cover here some of the most commonly quoted venomous species. A few others
are dangerous as well but really is beyond the scope here to cover. All pictures are on
this page for purpose of comparative study.

This is truly a very dangerous scorpion. Numerous deaths in Middle East countries and
North Africa are attributed to it though again children and elderly are more at risk. It
is not native to Asia (except perhaps India) and America. It is also known to be quite
aggressive.

GENERAL IDENTIFICATION: (not meant to ID the species)
It can grow to 4 or 10cm (Dave Gaban) and is generally yellow in colour. The
telson,metasoma V and distal part of metasoma IV is usually darker. It has slender
pedipalp typical of Buthidae. Its metasoma is thick and is widest at metasoma III and IV.
On metasoma III to V, a very deep concavity is observed. There are few hairs on the
metasoma and the telson. Outer tooth of basitarsal spur bifurcates at base of walking
legs.
Three subspecies exist. Androctonus australis australis: Yellow overall. A.australis
lybicus: Black at distal metasoma and telson. A.australis hector: brown at
distal metasoma and telson.

A Brazilian scorpion which is extensively studied by CEVAP. Even though there are few
documented deaths (death mainly comes from children under 7), the symptoms is severe and
among 5% of the patients studied by R.M.Lira-da-Silva and his co workers, there is
systemic involvement. This represents a very significant percentage.

GENERAL ID:
A sad case in point is that I do not have the ID but base it largely on the ID of
others.Will appreciate if anyone has the information. Till then let the photo speak for
itself.

LD50: 0.43-1.45 (0.43 given by Simard and Watt, 1984) (1.45 by
Habermehl 1981)

Fattailed
scorpion, Androctonus crassicauda

Photo of Androctonus crassicauda, courtesy of David Gaban

This is another dangerous scorpion found more commonly in SouthWest Asia.
The following information is interpreted from Dave Gaban :
Several coloration of A.crassicauda exists. It ranges from olive-brown to reddish
brown to black (there's a picture in 'Tarantula and Scorpions' by TFH which misID a black A.crassicauda
as A.bicolor. Rare isolated geographic race is found to be yellowish colored. Even
though morphologically, some yellow strains look like A.australis, they do not have
the dark distal metasoma (metasoma IV and V), telson and aculeus (sting). It is more
easily confused with A.bicolor but it has a comparatively more bulbous pedipalp.
However, compared to A.australis, its pedialp is more slender.

LD50: 0.08- 0.5 (Simard and Watt: 0.4)
Judging by its potency, it is one of the very dangerous species though I do not have a
death stats on it.

Not all deadly scorpions are shades of yellow. A.bicolor is black and again note the
extraordinarily slender pedipalp and thick metasoma. This is quite often confused with Androctonuscrassicauda
(black variety) but its pedipalp is comparatively slender.
However, it is not nearly as venomous as A.australis or L.quinquestriatus.
This scorpion is known to be highly irritable and aggressive.

This specimen is caught from Tunisia and represents well the
genus Buthus. It is the species which has vastly different LD50 for its subspecies. The
one is South France has much less potent venom. Needs no rocket scientist to which
subspecies lives in France.

Apparently a common scorpion on offer. Do not deserve a place here as very few death
iscaused by this species. It is placed here to allow comparision with A.bicolor
which look slightly similar. Difference is observed in coloration, body shape and texture.
An easier gauge is that this comes from South Africa while A.bicolor is more common
in North Africa. Description extracted from Dave Gaban:
It is one of the largest buthid and can attain 4.5-5 inches (11.5-12.7cm). The pedipalp is
very slender and the metasoma very wide. Males has more bulbous and shorter chelae and are
smaller size with longer pectines. It is generally chocolate brown and is lighter at the
legs and pedipalp. Its telson is large and bulbous with granular bumps and reddish
setae.It comes from Botswana, South Africa, Rhodesia and Mozambique.From Gaban and other sources:This species together with Parabuthus villosus and several other Parabuthus
sp is capable of spraying aerosol of venom up to a distance of about 2 feet. Severe
pain and temporary blindness is generally experienced by victims and permanent damage
ispossible if not washed out immediately. It is strongly recommended for anyone in direct
exposure to Parabuthus spp to wear goggles. As the venom quantity it is capable of
injecting is quite high, it may be quite dangerous to handle. However, Dr Scott
Stockwell's first hand account, suggests none of the serious systemic toxic effect.Parabuthus liosoma, photo by CarlOn name:P.transvaalicus comes from a geopolitical and geographic region called
Transvaal in South Africa (Stockwell). Author of 'Arachnomania' herpertologist Phillipe
DeVosjoli seems to be the source of the commonly used name Parabuthus transvaalensisfor
this species. Even Gary A. Polis in highly acclaimed 'The Biology of Scorpion' and a
number of toxicology books uses P.transvaalensis. However, P.transvaalicus is
now more accepted than P.transvaalensis.
Dave Gaban, Dr Scott Stockwell and now Herbert Schiejok propose the use of P.transvaalicus
instead. Other wrong names which even reputable authors and herptiles dealers uses
includes P.transvallicus, P.transvallensis, P.transvalicus etc. These are not
recommended for use.

Perhaps one of the most infamous species. It is previously known under many different
names. A sample is like Florida bark scorpion, Arizona deadly scorpion, Arizona
barkscorpion, sculptured scorpion etc. The previous scientific name is Centruroides
sculpturatus which till today is still widely used. Other scientific names referringto
the same species are Buthus exilicauda, Centrurus exilicauda, Centruroides
gertschi,Centruroides pallidicep and Centruroides zweifeli. This is an example
of how even scientific name can be so messed up. It is recommended that modern reference
to stickto Centruroides exilicauda to reduce the confusion.
During the 1940s-1960s, over 1000 deaths each year is attributed to this widespread
species though it may be untrue. Numerous older and supposedly objective scientific
studies I've read may have exaggerated the death caused by the species.

This is what spark a small research on my own ending with Dr Scott Stockwell strongly
worded but highly enlightening insights with the more recent publications. No death from
this species has been recorded in Arizona since 1968. The Arizona State University claims
it to be the success of their anti venom but it is more probably due to less use of
inappropriate treatments like injection of potent opioids. The use of this species as
a'scapegoat' seems to arise since Stahnke (1928) who's researching on antivenom for this
species label it as Arizona lethal scorpion. Even though, this species DO NOT strictly
belongs here (it is not a deadly species), it deserves a mention for those still in doubt.

Articles and books I went through on this alone are WHO 1981
estimates, Biology of Scorpion(Polis,1990), Venomous amd poisonous animals
(Habermehl,1981), Watt and Simard (1984), Merck manual, Medical entomology, Scorpion in
Kentucky (LeeTownsend), Smith 1992, Scorpionism in Mexican (Mazotti and Bravo-Brecherelle
with use of Mexico statistic board, Death register etc....till 1958) Most of the
above suggest C.exilicauda to be 'deadly'

Dr Scott Stockwell quoted more recent articles like one by
Dehesa-Davila & Possani (1994) which reflects stats up till 1990. No official death
isattributed positively to C.exilicauda. Others like C.noxious, C.limpidus
ssp,C.suffusus are implicated.

It is found in Southwest USA.

GENERAL ID:A typical Centruroides. Body coloration and pattern has numerous variation and
is difficult to generalise. Grows to 2 and a half inch. More photos are available in Dr
Scott Stockwell's page.

The sting of this species in Texas is recently found to be worse symptomatically than
that of C.exilicauda. However, death is very rare. It is very common in USA. It
grows to about 2 inches. Not considered dangerous but Dr Scott Stockwell equated its sting
to be equivalent of "a nail driven through the site of sting". Other physicians
report similarly severe discomfort among patients being stung. It is not a aggressive
scorpion and more pictures are scattered throughout my page.

It is interesting to note that many Centruroides sp. lives in colony. This is
quite uncommon among scorpions and has equivalent in some Scorpionidae like Pandinus
imperator. Intra specific cannibalism is reportedly quite low for these species
considering the population density.

General ID: Any scorpion resembling the photos I've shown of C.vittatus
deserves some respect

Thus far, all the scorpions mentioned belongs to the family Buthidae. The above
belongs to Scorpionidae and must come as a surprise to most. No deaths has been attributed
to it but a research read by Dr Nils Bergman shows that O.glabrifons venom cause
systemic neurologic symptoms in some victims. This generally means quite serious
envenomation non-typical of Scorpionidae stings. It is one good example to ask anyone
handling scorpions to exercise caution even in supposedly safe species. It occurs in South
Africa

Another Scorpionid definitely worthy of a place here is the Hemiscorpius lepturus.
Many deaths, mainly of children, had been attributed to this species in Iran
(ongoing research, Mr Matt Braunwalder). Permanent scarring and severe local damage
has been reported after being stung by this species.

Some reports also quoted at least 23 deaths (9 adults) in India over 14 years due to
stings of Asian giant forest scorpion, Heterometrus sp.. Heterometrus
swammerdami is one of the largest Heterometrus sp. found in India. However,this
genus is not usually known to have potent venom but once again care should be exercise
handling any scorpion.

Others

Mesobuthus gibbosus, courtesy of Alexandros Pagidas

Androctonus oeneas oeneas

Androctonus mauritanicus

Buthacus leptochelis

Compsobuthus acuticarinatus

Centruroides noxius

Centruroides suffusus

Centruroides limpidus

Hottentota saulcyi

Hemiscorpius lepturus

Mesobuthus eupeus

Mesobuthus tamulus

Odontobuthus doriae

Tityus bahiensis

Tityus trinitatus

About 20-35 species of scorpions is quoted by most authors to be
medically significant. Of these, I have included here 25, 4 of which is not deserving of a
place here. That puts my tally at 20. There are quite a few others especially subspecies
not included. Also not all stated here are of equal danger to man and some are not
considered lethal by some experts. Nevertheless, these species should be noted and avoided
for beginners. Also, anyone who encounter the abovementioned scorpions should give it a
respectful clearance to retreat.